Mercersburg man gets probation for possessing child pornography

36 months on each of 5 charges amounts to 15 years

CHAMBERSBURG &GT;&GT; John M. Scheibelhut, Mercersburg, was sentenced to 15 years of probation on July 23 after pleading guilty to five charges related to possession of child pornography a few months earlier. Scheibelhut, 49, received 36 months of probation on each of the five charges, and was ordered to serve each sentence consecutively.

Scheibelhut was charged by the Attorney General's office in August after investigators found four files containing child pornography being downloaded to his computer, according to court documents. Investigators searched Scheibelhut's home, 12471 Pittman Road, and found the computer to which they had linked a file sharing program. Scheibelhut told investigators he was the only one to use that computer, but when he saw the suspicious files, he would delete them right away.

According to documents, Scheibelhut also admitted to searching keywords that were flagged, but claimed he did not know what one acronym meant, despite searching it.

Four files containing images of minors engaging in sexual acts or poses were found on his laptop, according to court documents.

Scheibelhut pleaded guilty to four counts of felony possession of child pornography, and one county of felony criminal use of a communication facility, according to court documents.

Scheibelhut was assessed by the state sexual offenders board prior to sentencing. However, in his sentence he is not required to register as a sexual offender under Megan's Law. He was ordered to undergo sexual offender treatment and have specialized sexual offender supervision, according to court documents.

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Scheibelhut was ordered to have no contact with any minors other than family, as well as to pay fines of approximately $9,475, according to court documents. He also is prohibited from consuming alcohol or other controlled substances, and will complete any program the court deems necessary.